SEOUL, South Korea's leading weather forecast company K weather said Tuesday it will list its shares on the tech-heavy Kosdaq later this month to raise funds for business expansion. K weather offered its stocks for public subscription from Tuesday to Wednesday at 4,800-5,800 won per share. But vendors, or securities firms, fixed the price at 7,000 won due to strong demand for the planned initial public offering (IPO) on Feb. 22. The company said it will raise 4.8 billion won to 5.8 billion won (US$3.6 million to $4.4 million) in the IPO to inject the proceeds for the manufacture of air purifiers and air ventilation equipment at its plant in Incheon, just west of Seoul. K weather has mainly provided weather information since 1997 to 4,000 individual and corporate customers, including news media companies and portal sites, based on data from the Korea Meteorological Administration and overseas partner companies. A couple of years ago, the company decided to enter the air purification and air ventilation so lutions business, a company spokesperson said, adding its ceiling-type air ventilation system will be installed in some new apartment complexes and private-sector buildings. "On top of the weather forecasting business, the company is planning to strengthen the indoor air purification business to grow further," he said. In the January-September period of 2023, K weather posted an operating loss of 2 billion won on sales of 9.8 billion won. But the company said 16.1 billion won worth of orders will be reflected in the full-year sales results set to be released next month. K weather Chief Executive Kim Dong-sik expected the company will be able to report sales of 23 billion won this year and 35 billion won next year, helped by its expanded business portfolio. Source: Yonhap News Agency
